# ASK Cosmeticsâ€™ Beach-Ready Toe Nail Challenge



## Pancua (May 9, 2012)

I am participating in Ask Cosmetics Tips for Toes challenge and will be posting reports weekly on my blog.

I'm really excited to see if this will help my poor toes. I was following other blogs that participated in the Nail challenge and the change was impressive!


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## Pancua (May 9, 2012)

*Week One:* I received my challenge kit today so I couldn't wait! I dove right in!



​  ​ The instructions are pretty straightforward: apply after getting up in the morning but at least an hour before getting your feet wet or an hour afterwards. The main point is to make sure your feet are completely dry and will be dry for at least an hour. Apply the product generously to the cuticle, the nail plate and around the nail. And lastly, take pictures on a weekly basis as a way to track progress and report it to Lisa over at Ask Cosmetics. The best thing is you can also use the Tips for Toes also on your fingernails so I will be doing both! *My hands: *My cuticles are always flaking and splitting. I've tried different lotions and cuticle oils but nothing

seems to really work. Within minutes I am back to this wonderful scene.



 



So I put on Tips for Toes and an hour later, my cuticles are still looking pretty good for an initial application.



 



If I can keep getting results like this, I will be out of this world happy. *My Feet: *My feet are horrible, I'm almost too embarrassed to show them but here we go! I  have some pretty bad ridges on my big toes, I have no idea when this started but there they are and it makes painting my nails a real chore since it is so pronounced.



 



Another angle and slight close up of my ridgey toe.



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Another issue I am dealing with is my toe nail splitting down the center on my middle toes. It doesn't hurt so it doesn't seem to be happening under the cuticle but as soon as the nail starts to grow, the split continues down to the cuticle. Again, this causes an issue with pedicures cause more often than not the crack shoes through and the polish begins to flake off.



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Put on an application and let is absorb into my skin and all the white flaky stuff is still gone.



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ASK Cosmetics also included a full size bottle of their skin conditioning milk and I *love* this stuff.  In fact, the one thing that rates high on my list is just how lightly scented both of these products are. The lotion has my skin feeling soft and smooth without also feeling tight.



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## Pancua (Jun 3, 2012)

Week Two (I forgot to update this!) I have to say, I am really impressed with the results so far. My nails have never really looked this hydrated and pink in a really long time. The skin feels wonderful and I have not had to deal with any of my usual excessive white flakes.





I haven't noticed anything regarding the ridges or splits but it has only been 2 weeks. Right now, just not having to deal with the constant onslaught of white flakey skin is a win for me. I really am excited to see what happens after 6 weeks. Please disregard the blemish on my big toe, I slipped in the garage and stubbed my toe.


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## Pancua (Jun 3, 2012)

This will be a combination of week 3 and week 4 since my camera gave up the ghost last week and I can't get the pics I took last week while on the cruise.  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I have really noticed a dramatic difference in my toes in just 3 weeks. The nails that have cracks in them were painfully splitting and breaking off before I started the challenge which would cause me to have to cut off half the nail in order to alleviate the pain. If I didn't do this at least every other week, the nail breaking off would end up being caught in my socks or carpet and ripped off.  I have not had to deal with any of that in 3 weeks and from the looks of it, the nails are not showing any signs of breaking off at all. I can honestly say I have never seen my toe nails look this healthy. The one thing that has had a minor change is the ridges in my big toe nails. While they are not quite as pronounced as they used to be, they can still be felt when I run my finger across them. I am hoping that since there has been some improvement, that it continues along and soon smooth out.







​  ​ Since Tips for Toes can also be used on fingernails, I have been applying it to them when I do my toes twice a day. I definitely have noticed the skin around my nails looking and feeling smoother, I am not dealing with as many hang nails as I used to. Please ignore the spot on my cuticle on my left hand. That was me picking at a piece of dead skin when I should have left it alone. However, using the Tips for Toes on it as kept the scab soft enough to not pull on the surrounding skin as well as let it heal quickly.






​  ​ The one thing that I have noticed that is interesting is on my right thumb. A blemish (for a lack of a better word) formed and grew out. The interesting portion of this is the nail growing out behind the blemish. From the looks of it, that portion of my nail is completely smooth. No ridges whatsoever so I am really excited for my nail to grow out a bit more so I can see if this hold true.



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## Pancua (Jun 8, 2012)

Week 5 Photos from Week One here, Week Two can be seen here, Week Three/Four are here. I am really starting to notice a difference but the biggest difference has to be in my fingernails just in the last week.

For a comparison, here are the pictures from last week:







And from this week:







Before using ASK Tips for Toes on my fingernails, whenever my nails got to about this length, I could very easily bend them down, they were so thin. They would break incredibly easy. Now my when I try to bend my nails, they hold up really well. I can feel the strength in them, breakage doesn't happen quite as often and they look really good. I still have ridges but I am willing to deal with those just to have strong nails! The other big difference I have noticed is with the split nail on my left foot. Here is the picture I took as part of my challenge application:



​  ​ If you look at the last picture, you can see the split on the middle toe pretty easily. The outer part would get ripped off constantly if I didn't keep my nails trimmed back.​  ​ Here is a picture from today:​  ​ 



​  ​ The split is hardly visible anymore. It is still there, if you look closely but it's not lifting as much as it used to. I'm still a little scared to let the nail grow out too long but I am going to start letting it grow for the last part of the challenge to see how it goes. But even if the split is a permanent issue, not having it be quite so obvious has been a godsend. I can wear cute sandals without having to be embarrassed at the state of my feet.​  ​ To that point, I was having to slather my feet in lotion pretty much 2 - 3 times a day in order to have my toes look this healthy. Since starting the program, all I have done is used Tips for Toes in the morning and in the evening. The only difference with the evening application is 15 to 20 mins after application, I apply the Revival Skin Conditioning Milk.​  ​ What was the moment I realized this product was working? Every night sees me and M on the couch, enjoying a movie together before bed. I usually have my feet in his lap and he has noticed how much softer my feet feel. Believe me, that is a testament in and of itself!​  ​ Thanks Lisa! Thanks ASK Cosmetics!​


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